La Sagrada Famalia Questions

I am going to book my visit to La Sagrada Famalia including the towers. I have a couple of questions.

1) It seems as if the climb to the top of the tower may be difficult. How difficult is it and is the view worth the climb.

2) I have a choice of 2 towers and I guess that I have to decide which one I want to do as I can not do both. Which one is best, the Nativity Facade or the Passion Facade and why? I am leaning to the Nativity Facade as this is the tower that was completed by Gaudi. Does this make sense?

3) I tend not to rush through places. How much time should I allow for my visit?

4) I am planning to use the audio tour instead of the guided tour because I can then go through the church at my own pace instead of the pace set my a guide. Again, does this make sense?

5) Finally, it seems that I have to pick a defined time to do the tower although you can wander around the church with the audio tour for as long as you wish. Can I pick a tower climb time, break off from the audio tour and then return to the audio tour when I come down from the tower?

Thanks for the answers.

DON

The Passion Tower has an elevator that you can take in both directions.

I am going to book my visit to La Sagrada Famalia including the towers. I have a couple of questions.

 

1) It seems as if the climb to the top of the tower may be difficult. How difficult is it and is the view worth the climb. We did the Nativity Tower and rode up in the elevator. I don't recall if there were a few steps further up before crossing a 'bridge' to another tower to go down. The only way down was to walk. It was single file and easy for us (in our 60's and no knee or hip troubles).

 

2) I have a choice of 2 towers and I guess that I have to decide which one I want to do as I can not do both. Which one is best, the Nativity Facade or the Passion Facade and why? I am leaning to the Nativity Facade as this is the tower that was completed by Gaudi. Does this make sense? We chose the Nativity Tower for the same reason. Haha, we were Gaudi 'groupies', although there was no chance of meeting him!

 

3) I tend not to rush through places. How much time should I allow for my visit? We probably took at least three hours and really took our time as we were in Barcelona for a week. It was September and no one was rushing.

 

4) I am planning to use the audio tour instead of the guided tour because I can then go through the church at my own pace instead of the pace set my a guide. Again, does this make sense? Yes! If you want to stare at something longer (or pray), you can!

 

5) Finally, it seems that I have to pick a defined time to do the tower although you can wander around the church with the audio tour for as long as you wish. Can I pick a tower climb time, break off from the audio tour and then return to the audio tour when I come down from the tower? Yes! We arrived well before the tower reservation and had plenty of time to get through the line to pick up the audio headsets, then walked over to the elevator right on time.

 

Thanks for the answers. The view from the tower is great! Doing the tower made me feel like a participant, not only an observer.

 

DON

Enjoy!

As Adventures Ahead says, there is no climb up to the Nativity Tower, you take the elevator. However, I don't think the descent is particularly easy and i can't say I particularly enjoyed it. Apart from the fact it takes a long time walking down, the spiral is very tight and there is a very low wall on the inside - don't look down if you're at all nervous. There was a young woman going up in the elevator with us who was not too good with heights and she was quite upset to learn that there was no elevator down. They don't make that at all clear. To be honest, while we were blown away by the Sagrada Familia, we were a bot disappointed with the tower. When you get out of the elevator, you can't stop to admire the view as you have to move along with the stream of people. At various places on the descent, you can take narrow side passages to viewpoints but of course you are lower down then. I know this may be a minority view as I've read reviews where people have said how much they loved the tower.

"donaldsc" and I are on the same cruise, and his post is a reminder to me that I need to buy my Sagrada Famalia tickets as we definitely want to revisit this incredible building.

When we visited in 2013 my recollection is that we spent about 3.5 hours there. It was interesting to see some of Gaudi's original drawings (located in the museum in the future crypt), and then walk back through the nave again.

During our first visit to Barcelona and La Sagrada Familia in 2010, we opted to go up into the Nativity Tower because it was the one on which Gaudi himself worked, and that gave us the opportunity to be "up close and personal" with his work. We took an elevator up, and then walked down. It doesn't sound as though that has changed. I don't recall any problem in being able to stop and admire the views and take photos. (I will add that we were there in the winter, and I'm sure it was less crowded than during high season.) The walk down as others have noted is in a tight spiral staircase.

We were back in Barclona last fall, and were just amazed at how much had changed since then. The interior, which was still a work in progress in 2010, had been finished and was simply jaw-dropping. I can't say exactly how long to allow for the visit, but don't rush yourself!!

(photos by turtles06)

Thanks Turtles06 for the pictures! I was going to ask if there was a handrail and I see there is.

Has anyone done both towers? Is there a reason to do both? What would the difference be other than the one that Gaudi built? Is one taller?

I thought I was all set with my tickets and the times and choices just confused me a bit. First time to Barcelona, first time to Europe, definitely a "newbie". :)

Can you recommend a company to purchase tickets from?

Can you recommend a company to purchase tickets from?

book right on the Sagrada website:)

Can you recommend a company to purchase tickets from?

Here is the link for tickets

http://www.sagradafamilia.org/en/tickets/